Time Of The (Close) Season

Many football fans despise the close season - the six week gap between the cup finals and the start of pre-season friendlies.

But it's a part of the footballing calendar that I've always enjoyed, ever since I was a wee boy first becoming interested in the Beautiful Game. (As an aside, Pele obviously never sat through the Hibernian v Dundee Utd match that I reported on in 2002, which could never have been described as beautiful. In fact, there have been occasions in my life where I have been more entertained by examining the contents of my navel.)

To me, the close season, with its daily transfer rumours, new signings and players leaving in the hope of greener grass elsewhere, is as exciting as the seasons that precede and follow it. Every new signing gives fans the hope of exciting times ahead, hope that for many is dashed almost immediately once balls are kicked in earnest.

I remember as a teenager hearing that Rangers had signed Basile Boli and Brian Laudrup. Boli, a European Cup-winning centre back, seemed like the kind of exciting and exotic signing that Rangers needed to take them to European glory. Sadly, he wasn't, but for those brief weeks between his signing and his first slip-shod appearances in Royal Blue, the propsect of seeing him in action kept my appetite whetted.

Rangers' close season signings may no longer be defenders with such rich pedigrees (Kirk Broadfoot and Alan Gow are unlikely ever to hold the Champions League trophy aloft) but the close season is still a time to revel in the world of football, where essentially meaningless activity is laden with the hopes and dreams of millions.